Maldivian injured again

Maldivian, brilliant first-up winner of the Group 1 Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield almost two weeks ago, will not race again this autumn.

Flemington trainer Mark Kavanagh said today he had found swelling in the giant gelding’s near side front suspensory.

“We had the leg scanned immediately and it showed a small tear,” Kavanagh said in a press release. “We caught it all early. The injury is of minor significance. Maldivian will be rested immediately and set for the spring.”

Maldivian (B g 6, Zabeel (NZ)-Shynzi (USA), by Danzig (USA)) was to have raced in the Group 2 St George Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday and go on to the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on Super Saturday, March 7.

The Cox Plate winner, one of the biggest horses racing in Victoria, is no stranger to mishap – he was scratched at the barrier when hot favourite for the 2007 Caulfield Cup, his neck a bloody mess after he reared and cut it on a camera mount above his gate; and his 2008 autumn campaign was aborted after the St George (his third start of that preparation) because of a hairline fracture of the knee.

He returned for last spring and triumphed, when supposedly out of form after six winless runs, in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley after Kavanagh pulled a rabbit (or two) from the hat – the trainer schooled Maldivian over a couple of jumps and put blinkers on, a ploy often used on Zabeel progeny.

In praise of his boss’s magician-like transformation of Maldivian’s form, track rider Mike Preston bought Kavanagh a rabbit in a hat – a stuffed toy in a bush hat that sits on a desk in the office at the stables.

The magic has run out, for now. It is to be hoped such a big horse – his racing weight is in the high 580kgs and he usually returns from a spell at 600kg-plus – can put his full weight on the leg in fast work next spring.

Maldivian has three Group 1 wins, the other the 2007 Yalumba Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield. His race record is 27 starts for nine wins and 10 placings, and he has earned almost $2.8 million for West Australian owner Joe Ricciardo.